Leisure Time Acquires Russian Festival Hit "Hipster"

The small New York distributor Leisure Time Features (Haneke's "Code Unknown," Ozon's "Sitcom") has acquired Valerie Todorovsky's Cold War era musical "Hipsters" for US theatrical release. The dazzling film follows a clique of young communist party hipsters in Cold War Russia. The film will be released in Fall 2011.

The small New York distributor Leisure Time Features (Haneke's "Code Unknown," Ozon's "Sitcom") has acquired Valerie Todorovsky's Cold War era musical "Hipsters" for US theatrical release. The dazzling film follows a clique of young communist party hipsters in Cold War Russia. The film will be released in Fall 2011.

Leisure Time Features Acquires All U.S. Rights to "Hipsters," Valerie Todorovsky's Award Winning Russian Film

Leisure Time Features, the indie film distributor based in New York City, has acquired all U.S. rights to "Hipsters" by Valerie Todorovsky. "Hipsters" won the Nika (the Oscar equivalent in Russia) for Best Film in 2009 and has played in numerous North American film festivals including Toronto - featured in the Vanguard section, Seattle - where it placed 4th in audience favorites, Chicago - winning Best Art Direction, and Washington D.C. where it was the opening night film.

"Hipsters" is a lavish, candy colored musical set in Cold War Russia, 1955, and tells the story of a communist party youth, Mel, whose world view is changed when he encounters Moscowʼs underground jazz scene and the non-conformist kids, Hipsters, who inhabit it. The film has been often compared as a hybrid of Grease, Moulin Rouge and Hairspray by critics.

"Hipsters"' stunning cinematography, over-the-top visuals and inventive dance numbers make it a standout in recent Soviet cinema. The film was a huge commercial and critical hit in Russia winning 5 Nika awards.

Leisure Time Features plans to give the film a theatrical release in Fall 2011.

Since its inception, Leisure Time Features has introduced the films of many notableinternational directors to U.S. audiences including "Code Unknown" by Michael Haneke, "Sitcom" by Francois Ozon, "Un Air de Famille" by Cedric Klapisch, "Dogdays" by Ulrich Seidl, "Abouna" by Mahamet-Saleh Haroun and "The River" by TsaiMing-liang.